


Fruit of the poisoned tree

by foryoureyesonly1



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Established Relationship, Family Dinners, Fluff, M/M, There's like zero fluff, more angst than fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-08
Updated: 2021-01-08
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:40:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28355580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/foryoureyesonly1/pseuds/foryoureyesonly1
Summary: After two years of dating, Ace thinks it's a good idea to meet Sabo's family.Spoiler alert-it's not.
Relationships: Portgas D. Ace/Sabo
Comments: 3
Kudos: 35





	Fruit of the poisoned tree

**Author's Note:**

  * For [maridoll](https://archiveofourown.org/users/maridoll/gifts).



> For maridoll. Thanks for all the support 😘.  
> So this was supposed to be comedy and fluff. Sorry maridoll, but apparently, I can only write angst. (Also this was supposed to come out on Christmas day, but I can't hold a schedule)

Ace knows that he shouldn't have done it, so it is with a little apprehension that he waits for Sabo to come back from work in their apartment.

It's not his fault, really. Sabo should have locked his computer, then Ace wouldn't be in this mess at all in the first place.

The door opens, and Sabo comes in, looking weary from work. Ace immediately jumps up, and hurries over to him, taking his coat. "Hey Sab, you look tired. How was work?"

"You know, people missing their deadlines, almost making me miss mine." He shrugs the coat off.

"You poor thing, shall I give you a massage?" Ace offers, and Sabo frowns suspiciously.

"Why?"

"W...What do you mean, why, you're my precious boyfriend, and I just wanna do something nice for you-" Ace tries to cover up, but he is interrupted by the doorbell. He quickly goes to see who's there.

Sabo narrows his eyes when Ace presents him with a bowl of freshly delivered High town ramen. It smells delicious. "Spill it. What did you do?"

Ace feigns innocence, "Me? I just wanted to treat you to-"

"Portgas D. Ace, if you broke my laptop again, I will murder you with my own two hands. It has backups of all the publications." Sabo says looking indignant as he prepared to go check on his laptop. But Ace grabs his arm.

"It's not that. Promise you won't get mad?"

"You know I don't make promises I can't keep."

"Sit down." Ace drags him onto the couch. "Remember when I said I booked the two of us a table at the Baratie for Christmas?"

"You forgot to make the reservation." Sabo sighs. "It's too late now, it's probably fully booked."

"No, no. I cancelled it." Ace says, and in response to Sabo's puzzled look, he takes a deep breath, and says, "I was on your laptop when an invite reminder popped up on your email, for dinner at your parents' house...and I, well, I accepted it."

Sabo's eyes flare up with anger. "You did what?!"

Ace looks down, he doesn't like Sabo being mad at him. "I'm sorry, okay. If I didn't do this, you'd never let me meet them."

"For good reason, Ace! For fucks sake, how many families do you know who invite their son over for Christmas via _email_ ?" Sabo shouts.

"I don't know. I wouldn't know, because you never talk about them unless if asked." Ace fires back. "We've been together for two years Sabo, and I've never once met any of them! Do they even know you're seeing someone?"

Sabo stands up, and turns away. "Why would I tell them that?"

Suddenly, Ace is the angry one now, as he also stands. "What, are you afraid that I'm not good enough for the most elite family of High town? Afraid that they won't want the orphaned son of a notorious criminal to sully their eldest son? That they won't approve of me?"

"So what?" Sabo says. "So what if you don't meet their standards? Let's just stay here, alone together, where no one will judge us."

At this, Ace steps back, Sabo did not deny it, he didn't. His voice breaks, "Sabo, are you ashamed of me?"

"No." Sabo turns sharply, and takes both of Ace's hands in his own. "Never. You are the one thing in my life that I have complete faith in. I love you, Ace. Your past is your past, I don't want my father to hold it over you. Not after you've worked so hard to free yourself from it."

Ace steps closer, a weight in his heart lifting as he buries his face in Sabo's chest. "Im so glad....but Sabo, I want to share in that part of your life too."

As Sabo holds him, he says, "I can't Ace, my family's crazy."

Ace looks up at him, "So is mine. And you've met all two billion of them, they are fucking nuts, Sabo."

"Yeah, but they are the good kind of crazy. Mines the worst kind." He says, letting go of Ace. "I've got to finish my work, so I'll turn in early."

"We're not done talking." Ace frowns, as Sabo grabs the delivered food.

"Its a lot of work, so I'll sleep in the spare room." He starts walking away.

"Sabo!"

"Goodnight Ace."

In hindsight, this is all Thatch and Marco's fault. Ace wouldn't have done this if it wasn't for the conversation he had with them a few days ago when he told them about his plans for Christmas.

_*"Look, Ace, I like Sabo, he's a good kid. He's handsome, smart, hardworking, and quite frankly, I think he could do way better than you-" Thatch started, when four of them were hanging out at Marco's house._

_"Is there a point to what you're saying?" Ace asked through gritted teeth._

_"You still haven't met his family. You've known him for over five years, been dating for two... And yet, you've never even met any of them. Isn't that odd?" He asked._

_It did admittedly bother Ace a lot, especially when they first started dating, the issue of Sabo's family. Back then, Sabo had lied to him about them. It was a bit hard for Ace, who had a lot of people around him that he called family to completely understand Sabo's situation. "He doesn't get along very well with his father, so he prefers to keep his distance."_

_"And his little brother?" Marco asked pointedly._

_"He...they aren't close." Ace muttered._

_"That's true." Luffy said speaking for the first time on the subject. "Sabo said I was more of a younger brother to him than his own. It made me really happy cause I really like Sabo too. Now I've got two big brothers." He smiled._

_"Thanks Luffy. See, even Luffy knows." Ace said._

_"Still," Marco persisted. "Not even just once? Are you saying you're not curious. I mean, maybe there's another reason."_

_"Like what?" Ace frowned._

_Thatch sighed, "Look, I'm not one to beat around the bush, so I'll just say it. The Outlooks are elite blue bloods man. Have you seen their castle in High town? It's magnificent. Those types of people intermarry with other rich people to preserve the wealth. Sabo's their first born son... I'm sure they have plans for him, and you well..."_

_"Are you suggesting that Sabo is ashamed of me?" Ace asked quietly._

_"That's not what he's saying at all." Marco says sharply. "Sabo loves you, but there's probably pressure from his family that he doesn't want to expose you to. He wants you to stay safely protected by his side."_

_"Or maybe," Luffy said, "He just thinks it's none of Ace's business."_

_Ace looked down. "I get what you all mean, but that would only work in a short term relationship. If I want to spend the rest of my life with Sabo, I need him to let me in. I want to wait until he's ready, but I'm worried that he never will be."*_

Because of that, he had impulsively accepted the invitation, and now Sabo is angry.

~

Ace wakes up to the smell of eggs in the kitchen, and finds Sabo already sitted in the kitchen, having breakfast.

"Morning." He says, looking up at Ace. He doesn't look angry.

"Morning. Damn, I wanted to wake up early and make you breakfast in bed, but..." Ace mutters.

Sabo snorts, "Then I'd be in bed until like, eleven."

"Hey!"

"Sit down, the food's gonna get cold." Sabo says pulling the chair for him.

After sitting down next to him, Ace observes Sabo. "Look, I'm sorry. I don't like fighting with you. You can cancel with your parents."

Sabo sighs, "Forget it, if I cancel, Father will make that woman call me. I'm not interested in that. I don't think I can stand being called a mannerless brat, they'd never let it go. We have to go now."

Ace tries to mask his happiness, but clearly fails, "You won't regret it, Sabo. I promise."

"No, we'll both regret it."

"So, does your family know about us?" Ace asks.

"Just Stelly. He saw us together once in town, but when he called to ask me, I told him to mid his own damn business." Sabo says, standing up. "I'll be late today, I have to go shopping after work."

"Shopping?" Ace looks up. Sabo raises his eyebrows. 

"Surely, you weren't thinking of wearing cargo shorts and a vest to my father's Christmas dinner?" He asks.

Ace really hopes he won't have to wear a suit.

*

Ace stares at the price tag of the black suit that Sabo is forcing him to wear. "Hey, hey Sabo, can we afford this? We cannot afford this!" he says, his face filled with surprise.

"Of course we can't, so make sure you don't remove the tag, so we can return it after tonight."

"Okay, but why did you find me an expensive suit? You could have gotten something cheap from the-"

"Look, I just...this is father's favourite brand. I just I need you to make a good impression on him, then he won't be a sour puss the entire time okay?" Sabo tells him.

Ace frowns and wants to argue that he really hate wearing suits, Sabo knows this and he wonders if he's punishing him for accepting this invitation at all in the first place.

For his part Sabo is also dressed in a suit. Dark blue, with a light blue shirt and vest, and a frilled cravat, He looks great. Ace has never seen him dressed like this, he wonders if this is what's normal in Sabo's family.

"You look stunning." Ace smiled giving him the once over.

Sabo stopped, his worried expression disappearing as he smiled. "Well, you clean up pretty nice yourself."

Ace stepped closer, giving him a soft kiss on the lips. He tasted like sweetness, urgency and light. "Hmm," Ace smiled into the kiss. "I have half a mind to strip you and lay you bare on the couch..."

Sabo pushed him away, "Well, you aren't getting into my pants tonight. You should have thought about that before accepting my father's invitation." He said, making Ace groan. "Okay, did you get the lilies?"

"Yeah I did, but aren't lilies for like, you know, dead people." Ace asked, retrieving the package, and handing the flowers to Sabo.

"Well, they are _her_ favourite flower, so I guess if we make a good impression on her...we make a good impression on father."

"Okay, I also got the wine here." Ace says taking his gift bag. "I got this as a good luck from Pops. It's his favourite wine so I'm sure your dad's gonna like it."

"Ace." Sabo groans, "I told you my father hates white wine."

"Yeah, well I'm not gonna compromise on this." Ace says determinedly. "I don't mind dressing in a way I would never be dressed like but this is Pops favourite wine so this is what I'm giving your father."

It is too late to try and get anything else anyway, so Sabo sighs. "Let's go, let's not be late. I'll never hear the end of it." Sabo says taking his hand and dragging him out of the house.

He looks a little bit stressed out and Ace can't understand it completely. It's just dinner with his family, so why is Sabo silent the entire drive to Hightown? Ace wants to say something but he figures Sabo needs time to think, to adjust, and he just sits there as well and lets him drive to their destination.

The security opens the gate for them as soon as they see Sabo, and the two of them drive into the yard.

"Holy shit!" Ace gasps when he sees the mansion. "That's huge."

Thatch and Marco weren't kidding when they called this place a castle, it's huge, bigger than any house Ace has ever seen before. And that is saying something in Ace's line of work as he's been to a lot of celebrity houses for functions. Especially for a house where only two people live in. The entire house was painted white, a dashing green loan on the grounds, and Ace thinks he can hear a stream nearby. Around the house, there are white flowers growing outside, very well tended to and Ace suspects that it's not Sabo's mother who attends to them. 

"It appears we're the last to arrive." Sabo says, sounding displeased as he parks his car in a parking lot suitable for a fancy mall.

People bow to them as they enter into the house, and Ace can't help but look around and marvel at the paintings on the wall, the ornaments decorating whatever tables he can see, and even the carpet looks so posh that he feels like he shouldn't be walking on it . By the time that they arrive at the dinner table, four people are already seated there, and three maids are setting the table for them.

Ace recognises Sabo's father from having seen him on TV, while scrolling through some business administration channel, where Outlook III had been giving an interview. "That's my father." Sabo said casually to Ace's surprise. But he hadn't pushed the matter back then. He is sitting at the head of the table today, and Ace notices that he doesn't share Sabo's blonde hair, instead his is long and dark. He looks at the two of them with disdain, an unpleasant look on his face.

"You're late." He says, as Sabo greets him.

"The invitation said 8PM. It's only ten to eight now." Sabo replies.

"Who taught you your manners, you should arrive at least half an hour early."

"We're here on time. It has been a while, father." Sabo says, steering away from the conversation.

"Do not give him a hard time, dear. I'm sure Sabo tried his best." There is a blonde woman sitting across from his father, she looks younger than Sabo's father. This must be Sabo's stepmother, Didit. Her nose is upturned as she turns to look at Ace.

"Good evening," Sabo says with an obviously forced smile. "How are you, mother?"

"Very well, thank you. Please take a seat." She says.

"Thank you." Sabo is speaking formally to his stepmother, but Ace can feel the tension between them too. "Hello Stelly, Sarie."

The person that Ace presumes must be Sabo's brother has dark brown hair and he doesn't look up, even as they arrive. He's busy doing something on his phone with a weird look on his eyes, and the person next to him, a beautiful woman also turns to look at Sabo and Ace. She has on a neutral expression.

"Good evening." The woman says politely.

"You're here, brother I wonder why. Don't you hate these types of things?" Stelly asks finally looking up.

"Yeah well, I have someone that I want to introduce to you guys, that's why I came." Sabo hold out his hand, and Ace takes it. "This is Ace, my boyfriend. Ace, this is my family."

Outlook III purses his lips, and puts down his glass of wine. "What is the meaning of this? Is this why you refused to go on a date with the minister's daughter? Do you know how much that cost me?" He asks.

"Ace, sit here, next to me." Sabo says, ignoring his father, and Ace isn't sure what to do, so he just let's Sabo's hand guide him.

"Hello, these are for you, ma'am." He hands the lilies to a delighted Didit, who immediately calls the maid to place them in a vase. "And, I brought this wine, as a gift for you sir." He bows his head in front of Sabo's father.

"Sabo, you brought this..." He looks Ace over, "Are you mixed, kid?" He asks.

Ace feels Sabo tense up beside him. But he answers, "Yes I am sir."

Stelly snickers, and Outlook III gives Sabo a disgusted look, "Well, I guess this is alright. Knowing this boy, he could have brought home a nig-" Outlook starts.

"FATHER!" Sabo warns, and his father relents, focusing on Ace once more.

"White wine? Sheesh. Looks like you have expensive taste though, both in clothing, and in men." Outlook says looking at the wine in front of him.

Ace wants to snap at him that that's Pops favourite wine, but he doubts that this man will care. Anyway, what the hell does he mean by expensive taste? "I don't understand, sir." He says honestly.

Before Outlook III can answer, however, a line of maids arrive, and start serving dinner. Rich people sure know how to eat, Ace thinks as he looks at the mouth watering servings in front of him, and he's about to dig in, when he feels Sabo's hand on his arm. He looks up, and Sabo gives him a meaningful look on his face. Ah, right. They spoke about this. Today, Ace must eat like a normal person, not a glutton.

He takes a breath, and picks up a knife to cut the turkey, rather than use his hands like he wants.

"So, Ace, what's your last name?" Didit asks.

"Portgas, ma'am."

She looks thoughtful, as if trying to place the name, getting nothing. ",What do your parents do?" Stelly also, and Sabo gives him a death glare.

Ace swallows his meat quickly and answers, "Both my parents are dead." He feels Sabo facepalm next to him, just as the whole family turns to look at him with indiscernible expressions on their faces. "Um..."

"Are you dumb?" Stelly asks Sabo. "You brought an orphan to meet Father?"

"Shut the fuck up, Stelly!" Sabo warns him.

"Language, Sabo dear." His mother says.

"Oh, that's funny, I didn't hear you say anything when father was spitting racist slurs." Sabo snaps at her.

"Enough." Outlook speaks again. "Who raised you then, Mr Portgas?"

Ace is pulled out of his bewilderment at the direction that this family dinner has taken, it is nothing like the ones his family have. "Um, my father is Edward Newgate."

Outlook's lip curls in displeasure. "Hmph. So, you were raised by that socialist democrat. No wonder someone like you thinks they can have a person of my son's class."

Ace feels his blood boil, he's not sure, but he thinks that this is Outlook III's version of insulting Newgate. He takes a deep breath, and reminds himself to be civil. This is Sabo's family after all.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He asks through gritted teeth.

"It means that he's always encouraging the rich to give handouts to the poor, like they are entitled to what's ours. What a joke. Why should I give my hard earned wealth to those lazy peasents?" Sabo's father explains, pulling a bowl of caviar towards himself.

"Well, they should be entitled to some of it, after all, you opress a lot of your workers, if not all of them. The least you can do is be a little giving." Sabo mutters.

"What did you just say, boy?" His father asks.

"Eh, why don't we talk about something else? Like, Ace dear, where did you and Sabo m-"

"Who cares about that. Do you at least have a job?" Stelly asks, as his wife gives him a disapproving look. She still hasn't said anything since Ace got here, yet she seems unperturbed by any of the goings on, as if she's resigned herself to just observing the family without taking part in it.

"Yes, do you?" Outlook asks.

"Yeah, I'm a football player." Ace says.

"Oh, lord." Outlook exclaims, putting down his spoon. "Soccer? Really, Sabo? I mean it's bad enough that you write for a magazine no one reads, that is constantly berating those in politics, but you're dating someone jobless?"

"He's not jobless, he just said what he does."

"Is your team any good, at least?" Didit asks.

"Yeah. They came in second at the league last year." He says. "Good game. Very close."

"Second, huh. Well, I guess that's better than nothing." Outlook says. "Now, Sabo, the reason I wanted you here today, was to tell the whole that I'm retiring next year, and it's time to choose my heir."

Ace suddenly feels out of place as Stelly fixes up his suit, and Sarie looks up hopefully, while Didit smiles.

"Sabo, I want you to be the next CEO."

You could cut the silence that followed with a butter knife.

"No thanks." Sabo says simply, but everyone ignores him.

"I'm sorry, father," Stelly says, with a shake of the head, "for a moment there, it sounded like you said Sabo."

"I did." The look of extreme anger and confusion on Stelly's face is actually scary. He looks like he's going to hit someone, _or kill someone._

Speaking for the first time today, Sarie answers, "What? Are you messing with us? After everything that Stelly has done for your company, you'll just toss him aside?"

"Sabo's my first born son." Outlook says, as if that explains everything.

"No." Didit says. "Sabo's _your son_."

Outlook III puts down his glass of white wine (which Ace notices he appears to be enjoying immersly) and sighs, "It's not about that. Sabo's my first born, he'll inherit the company. Sure he'll have to marry the MD's daughter first, but-"

"I said no fucking way." Sabo says loudly, cutting him off. 

"You can keep your boyfriend on the side, it's alright." His father compromises.

"I'm sorry, what?" Ace asks in shock.

"Stay out of this, no one's talking to you. Father, Sabo's not qualified to run that company. He doesn't know shit about it!" Stelly shouts standing up.

"He has an MBA!"

"He majored in journalism! And he abandoned this family!" Stelly barks.

"Can we please stop talking about me in the third person?" Sabo cuts in. "I love my job and I don't wanna join a soulsucking corporation. I love Ace, my boyfriend, so there is no way in hell I'm gonna marry anyone else. So you shove your job offer up your ass."

"You insolent child. You will come home, and stop this experiment that you're doing. You're nothing without this family. That boy, is obviously after our money. You can just tell his type!" Sabo's father says.

"Stop." Ace says, touching his shoulder as Sabo is about to stand up in anger.

Didit places a calming hand on Outlook's own. "Calm down, honey. Sabo is here on Christmas day, for the first time in years, let's welcome him kindly."

"Oh, please mother." Stelly snorts. "He must have known that father would disapprove of his..." He gives Ace a once over, "...peasent, no matter how well you dressed him up."

"Shut your fucking mouth, just because you're so desperate for father's love that you married the first business deal he threw your way. No offence Sarie." He adds.

"Screw you." She says.

Outlook III crosses his arms and looks over the table. "I will have order in my house. Stelly, sit down, and Sabo stop pretending to be normal. You're not. You should be grateful. I've ignored your shortcomings to give you this job. Did you think I didn't know about your disturbed mind? That you're taking crazy pills like your mother was? Do you want to end up killing yourself too like she-"

"SHUT UP!" Ace shouts, looking at how pale Sabo has gone. He never talks about his mother, or how his father abandoned her for a new, more elite wife. He only ever talked about her struggles with depression to Ace once. And Ace can't stand this anymore. "I've had enough."

Outlook III stands up, enraged. "You unemployed, worthless mixed trash think you can command me in my house?" 

"Hmph. Let's go, Sabo." Ace says, taking his hand, and Sabo stands up, ready to go too.

"You can go, leave my son here."

"Why? So you can hand over the company to him, after all I've done for you? Haven't I been a good son, father? A better son than him? I've been at your side for years, and you'll toss me aside just because I'm not blood!" Stelly shouts angrily.

His mother walks over to him, trying to pacify him. "Stelly dear, don't get mad at your father. It's unbecoming."

Sarie continues sitting at the table, siping her wine like this is normal, nothing new for her and she remains unbothered by her husband and her father in law.

"Why, mom? It's always Sabo would have done this, Sabo wouldn't do this, Sabo this Sabo that... Well, brother abandoned you father, because you messed up his life. I let you mess up mine because I wanted your company, but you're saying I'm not getting it? That's bullshit!" He shouted again.

"Look at you, Stelly, you can't hold yourself, you're full of anger and you can barely keep it together. I can't give my company to a volatile violent person. Hmm, look at Sabo. No matter how much I insult him, he can keep himself calm! Learn some self control, boy!" Outlook says with a disgusted look on his face.

At this point, leaving the chaos behind, Ace and Sabo are almost out the door, when,

"Wait. We're not done here, where do you think you're going?" Outlook says to them.

"Father, I don't want anything from you, so let's server our ties right now. Ace is my family now. He makes me happy," Sabo smiles, squeezing Ace's hand. "He makes me feel good about myself. I love him more than I've ever loved anyone in the world. You've always threatened to disown me, well, consider this me disowning this entire family."

Ace can't help but smile at the confident determined look on Sabo's face, and he knows his decision was right. He knows he wants to spend the rest of his life with Sabo.

"You think you'll be happy? No one wants you, Sabo. You're a product of your mother's defective genes. You think you can achieve anything with that ugly mutilated and disfigured face of yours? You are noth-" Outlook III says, and what happens next takes everyone by surprise.

It's more of a reflex really. As soon as those words reach Ace's ears, he feels the anger inside him bubbling up into rage, and before he knows it, he's let go of Sabo's hand and his fist flies straight into Outlook III's face, and he falls down to the ground, nose bleeding.

"A-Ace...!" Sabo says, eye wide, as he watches his father whimper on the floor.

"When I first met Sabo, he told me he was an orphan. I never understood why until now." Ace spits on Outlook's face. He turns back to Sabo, and reaches his bloody hand into the pocket of his pants, retrieving it.

Ace kneels down on the ground, while behind him, Didit and Stelly try to get Outlook III up on his feet again. Ace brings out the ring, now bloody too. "I know it's chaos right now, but our whole relationship has been like that. I want you in my life, now and forever, Sabo. I know I'm lacking, I may bring shame to your family and what not, and I know you deserve better, but I love you, so please...marry me."

Sabo freezes in shock, looking from Ace to the ring, to his family shouting behind them. "Ace.. " he says. "You don't understand, the reason I never wanted you to meet them wasn't because I was ashamed of you. It was because I was ashamed of them.This..." he points behind him, "chaos is my family. Are you sure you wanna be a part of that?"

"I wanted to be a part of you. And if that means being a part of them too...so be it." Ace says confidently.

"Don't regret it." Sabo says.

"I won't." Ace confirms, "but you know, you...still haven't given me an answer."

And then Sabo smiles, and Ace feels himself melt a little bit inside. "Of course I'll marry you. Welcome to the family."

He knows he's never been this happy. Ace puts the ring on him with trembling hands, and then hugs him tightly, like he wants to hold him here to preserve what has been the best moment in his life. Better than the first goal he ever scored, or the first time he'd ever led his team to victory. This is the best moment of his life.

***


End file.
